Rock the Bells line-up announced, successful quality hip hop is dead
Check out the tour’s site here.
The headliners for the annual hip hop showcase are:
- Wu-Tang Clan (minus the late Dirk McGirk) performing Enter the 36 Chambers in full.
- Rakim (minus Eric B.) performing Paid in Full in full. In full.
- KRS-One performing Criminal Minded in full.
- Slick Rick performing The Great Adventures of Slick Rick in full.
Of those four albums that will performed in their entirety, the most recent was released in 1993. What does that say about the current state of big-money hip hop? If Jay-Z and Lil’ Wayne turn down a gig the only other option is to dip back into the late 80s early 90s?
The other acts on the tour show that hip hop is absolutely not dead–Clipse, Murs, and Wiz Kalifa are all legit artists in or around their primes–but top of the charts hip hop? It certainly seems like the people behind this tour, one that prides itself on steering clear of vapid, transient acts, had some trouble finding anybody worth booking at the top of the current hip hop charts.
Sad. Maybe some kids going to see Wiz Kalifa will be exposed to Wu-Tang and realize there was a time when some of the best hip hop out there was also some of the most successful.
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